Live and Breathe
by Lang Su
Summary: An alternate history, if you will for,Guan Ping. What if he and his father were forced to make a decision that would change how he saw Shu, and how he lived his life? OCxGuan Ping, but it's not the focus of the story.
1. From here to there

Ahhh, sorry, this is actually skipping my true first chapter. But in the next chapter, he recounts why he is in Wu.

Forgive parts of it if it seems odd, because I copied and pasted from my original story document.

I promise, it will be good. I have the chapters all planned out.

* * *

He found himself actually looking forward to seeing the leader of Wu. What with that scene with Liu Bei earlier, he was lucky he could find Sun Jian without any trouble.

Lucky to be granted an audience without question and not to be dead. He bowed.

"The son of the God of War," the man said thoughtfully. "What brings you here?" He had been expecting the boy to want revenge for his uncle, and his father's death. But he didn't carry any weaponry with him. And he didn't seem to know that Guan Yu had been executed either.

"I…I bring bad news," he said, panting suddenly. His heart beat fast, like he would explode any second. He shook his head. "My lord is angry, and he plans to avenge Zhang Fei. He's planning launch a full scale attack against Wu."

He looked surprised. "Why are you telling me this? Surely, you'd keep your own plans a secret?"

He shook his head. "I don't know for sure what he plans to do; I left before I could find out anything." he licked his lips. "But I know that he's doing it for the wrong reason. I saw Zhang Fei get killed."

"You did? Funny, his men came to us with his head not too long ago."

He nodded. "He believes they're YOUR men…a trick, perhaps. I couldn't tell him the truth; he wouldn't listen to me. He's angry. He's blinded by his rage. I…" he looked down. "I couldn't let him just get away with that. He's not punishing those men, he should be. So I…left."

"…So that's how you ended up here," Sun Jian shook his head sadly. "Vengeance can take away a man." He had seen it too many times.

"…" he looked uncomfortable, looking down next to his feet and rubbing his arm. Did he really understand at all?

Sun Jian looked to one of his officers. "Can we get a room set up for him? He'll need it." he clapped a hand on the young man's shoulder, giving him a nod and leaving.

He didn't know what scared him more, the fact that the man didn't look at him with malice as an enemy, or that he almost seemed…fatherly.

* * *

"Come, your room is this way." She walked fast her footsteps light, but maybe that was because he dreaded moving any further down the hall. His heart felt heavy and his mind was elsewhere.

Was what he was doing right? He felt as though the further he went down the hall, the further he was straying from Shu. Did his father want this to happen? He had correctly assumed that Liu Bei would be furious and plan a full-scale attack. He asked him to bring a message to Sun Jian. He took his place at Fan Castle.

Guan Ping stopped walking altogether, and stared out at the garden.

She stopped and turned around, their eyes meeting once, and she placed her hands on either side of his face. "Master Guan Ping, don't let it get to you."

His eyes flitted to hers, still bore into them distantly. He seemed tired. "…" but he was listening, or at least, she had his attention.

"…" She tilted her head, offering a small grimace. The man's heart was exhausted, from the up and down he had to face, she realized. Maybe some other time, then. "Come on," she tugged on his arm. "The faster we get to your room, the more sleep you can get."

He seemed to wake up a little bit and nodded. He followed her again, still, very slowly.

* * *

"Okay, now, here we go." she opened the doors, and he saw that it was modest. He, for some reason, expected them to give him a room with rotting floorboards and wild animals or tears everywhere. "Do you like it?" she asked.

He blinked and gave her a small, but still mostly broken smile. "Yeah, it's fine."

"Okay, well, if you need anything, I'm right around the corner." she started walking away but stop when she heard him say something.

"Thank you," he whispered, very faintly. "I appreciate it, I really do."

She looked over her shoulder at him, and saw that he was giving her a more wholehearted smile before entering his room.


	2. Brief

His father had asked of him to deliver a message to Lord Liu Bei. Lord Zhang Fei had been killed by two officers meaning to defect. They didn't like Zhang Fei as well as anyone else could handle him. But the message the messenger had given was that Wu had planted the officers there and planned to betray their trust by taking out Zhang Fei.

And by the time he had gotten to Lord Liu Bei, he had been furious, and refused to listen to him-wouldn't even let him say a word. So he found his conscience was stronger than his allegiance to Shu. He didn't feel like Wu deserved a full-scale attack that should've been meant for the two men. Thousands of innocent men with their own families.

He sat up on the bed. How did Fan Castle end? He didn't see any of his siblings before he left. And it was raining heavily right now, even more so than when he was in the Castle. And someone had maybe taken his place at Fan Castle. He hoped his family was okay.

Was this what he wanted him to be doing? Accepting Wu's hospitality, instead of fighting against them? What the Hell.

He pulled out a piece of paper and a brush. He just sat there staring at it. What was he supposed to write? Sorry, I'm currently hiding behind enemy lines? Before long, he had thrown the brush across the room. At the same time, someone knocked on the door, and he turned his head too fast. He didn't even touch his neck before the person had come in.

It was Sun Jian, and he didn't smile. "Guan Ping, you do not need to get up. In fact, it's better if you sit down when I tell you this."

No need to. He already felt overwhelmed enough.

Jian grimaced. "Guan Yu and Guan Ping have been executed."

From there on, he couldn't hear a word that came out of the man's mouth. First it was his hearing, then his sight blacked out.

The only thing he knew was that he hit the bed hard and he didn't get up at any time soon.


End file.
